More than 500 volunteers are mobilizing for the E.ON IBU World Cup Biathlon #7 event, which will take place at the Nordic Heritage Center in Presque Isle from Feb. 4-6, and the University of Maine at Presque Isle is doing its part to pitch in.

The international event requires organizers and volunteers with expertise in a wide variety of areas, including medical coverage, transportation, and information processing, and scores of faculty, staff and students from UMPI will be stepping up in early February to help out with these efforts.

"We are so pleased to be participating in a multitude of ways with the World Cup Biathlon event that is coming to Presque Isle and to be helping to ensure that the local community and northern Maine region are providing a friendly and welcoming experience to the hundreds of athletes, coaches and spectators who will be visiting," UMPI President Don Zillman said. "This is a wonderful opportunity to share our region with Biathlon enthusiasts from around the world and we are confident that they will be impressed with what they find."

A group of women connected with the University of Maine at Presque Isle's Social Work program are more than halfway to their goal of raising $12,000 for a spring service learning trip to Moshi, Tanzania, and they're looking for community support to successfully complete their fundraising efforts.

Four UMPI Social Work students – Abbey Atcheson, Kelsey Albert, Nicole Michaud, and Ashley Brewer – along with UMPI alumna Jen Borden and Husson University student Paige Nichols will be traveling with Shirley Rush, Associate Professor of Social Work and Bachelor of Social Work Program Director, to Tanzania in May of 2011 for the service learning trip of a lifetime.

The University of Maine Presque Isle's Coordinator of Athletic Training, Barbara Blackstone, attended a one-day summit on youth sports safety with the National Athletic Trainers Association and athletic training groups from across the nation on Dec. 7 in Washington, D.C.

Area volunteers with the AARP Tax-Aide Program will be available on Saturdays at the University of Maine at Presque Isle during the next two months to help members of the community prepare their tax returns.

This free service will be provided by volunteers every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. from Feb. 5 to April 16 in Room 118 of UMPI's Campus Center. The work these volunteers are doing is connected to the VITA [Volunteer Income Tax Assistance] and TCE [Tax Counseling for the Elderly] programs.

One week before the Super Bowl and all the festivities surrounding it, the University of Maine at Presque Isle will host an annual party of its own for high school and college students – College Goal Sunday.

Staff members will be on hand at two locations on Sunday, Jan. 30, beginning at 2 p.m. – in Folsom 105 on the UMPI campus and also at the Houlton Higher Education Center – to assist students in completing and filing their FAFSA [Free Application for Federal Student Aid] forms. This free event is open to the entire community. High school seniors and parents are especially encouraged to attend, along with currently enrolled college students needing assistance.

The University of Maine at Presque Isle (UMPI) is pleased to announce that its 2010-2011 University Distinguished Lecturer Series will continue with a presentation by Dr. David Tolin, founder and director of the Anxiety Disorders Center at the Institute of Living in Hartford, Connecticut.

Tolin will deliver his talk, Buried in Treasures: The Nature and Treatment of Compulsive Hoarding, on Tuesday, Feb. 8, at 7 p.m. in the university's campus center. His presentation will include information about compulsive hoarding, the root causes of this common and potentially disabling problem, along with current treatments being used to help people manage the symptoms more effectively. It is estimated that up to 2 million people in the United States may be affected by compulsive hoarding.

With winter in full gear and warmer weather in the future, the University of Maine at Presque Isle's Outdoor Adventure Program International (OAPI) is offering a series of adventures for campus and community members to enjoy.

Activities will kick off on Jan. 30 with a dog sledding adventure. Participants will talk to the mushers, help harness the dogs, go for a ride, and enjoy a warm, delicious lunch. The public is invited to attend and may register for this adventure beginning Jan. 24. The registration deadline for this event is Jan. 28 at noon and the cost to attend is $40.

Project Explore is looking for instructors for their June 20-24 gifted and talented program, which is offered every summer at the University of Maine at Presque Isle for elementary and middle school-aged students in the community.

Project Explore is seeking instructors who are interested in teaching a concentrated course for eight to 15 students. Instructors should have expertise in their area of interest, have a stimulating and imaginative approach to learning, be able to adapt to differences in learning styles, and have the ability to provide a challenging learning experience for high-ability students.

The University of Maine at Presque Isle will host a trip to China for UMPI and Maine School of Science and Mathematics faculty and students, as well as community members, from May 19 to May 30, 2011.

Trip participants will depart from New York City on May 19 for Beijing, where they will stay four nights and visit famous sites throughout the Beijing area. Trip attendees will have the opportunity to visit the Forbidden City, the largest and most intact conglomeration of ancient structures of the imperial palace ever built in the world, featuring more than 800 buildings with 9,999 rooms, golden-glazed roofs, red lacquered pillars, and vermilion walls.

The University of Maine at Presque Isle will host its annual spring semester American Red Cross Blood Drive on Wednesday, Feb. 2. This blood drive is sponsored by the UMPI Residence Life Office, the Brothers of Kappa Delta Phi and the Sisters of Kappa Delta Phi NAS.

The blood drive is scheduled from 12 p.m. until 5 p.m. in the Campus Center's Multi-Purpose Room. If donors wish to reserve a time to make their donation, they should call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE or 768-9585 between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Walk-ins are welcome, or you can sign up at the new online appointment scheduler at www.redcrossblood.org.

The trustees of the Maine Higher Education Assistance Foundation (MeHEAF) are pleased to announce the awarding of a scholarship in the amount of $1,000 to Laura Schools, a business administration major at UMPI. She is a graduate of Houlton High School.

The University of Maine at Presque Isle's Reed Fine Art Gallery will showcase recent work by the University of Maine at Presque Isle art faculty from Jan. 18 to Feb. 19.

The Art Faculty Group Exhibition will be on display in the Reed Gallery located in the university's campus center. Participants in the exhibit will include E. Clifton Boudman, Leo-Paul Cyr, Renee Felini, H. Anderson Giles, Don Cyr and Ann Kittredge. The UMPI art faculty works in a wide range of mediums including photography, sculpture, paint, prints, and music, which provides a diverse foundation for the exhibit.

The University of Maine at Presque is pleased to announce that UMPI Professor Kevin McCartney has been published in MARINE MICROPALEONTOLOGY, a very widely respected international journal. The article, "Early evolution of the silicoflagellates during the Cretaceous", is the first of five articles written and submitted for publication by McCartney following his research sabbatical at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln in fall 2009.

Let me encourage you to use Gentile Hall at the University of Maine at Presque Isle as your base or ending point for the Presque Isle Light Parade on Saturday, December 4. We will open Gentile Hall for parade fans at 6 PM. We will have coffee, hot cocoa, and cookies in the lobby, along with posters describing some of UMPI's achievements during the year.

IN ADDITION, you will have an opportunity to watch UMPI's two films—Wind 101 and THE PROPOSAL. We will be showing the films continuously before, during, and after the parade in Gentile Hall.

The Maine Department of Conservation has announced that the University of Maine at Presque Isle will receive funding in the amount of $750,000 toward replacement of two oil-fired boilers with a wood chip boiler.

The new boiler will be the heating source for two of the campus' primary teaching facilities, Pullen Hall and Folsom Hall. "We are thrilled to receive this grant that will help us not only improve the efficiency of our campus facilities, but also help the campus move closer to meeting our carbon neutral commitment," said President Don Zillman.